"When I saw Lauvao do that, I kind of was just pissed that he was doing that and just nudged him," Ngata said. "Kind of a heat-of-the-moment thing. That was the only thing. I was just trying to protect my player."

"No disrespect to Shawn because we know each other," Ngata said. "It was the heat of the moment, and just was mad that he tried a late hit."